Business Security Information

Do you use an EAS (electronic article surveillance) system in your retail store?  I know that most of the major retailers use these type of systems.  Actually, I was at a department store the other day, and I noticed, like I have so many times in the past few years, how ineffective they can be.  Let me explain that statement.

Well, I really do learn something new almost every day.  I was reading an article in Forbes magazine  the other day about a robbery prevention technique that I had never heard of before.  I thought I would share it with you in this article.

Greeting a Bank Robber

Some banks are now using greeters, like Wal-Mart does, at the entrance to the bank as a robbery prevention tool.  The theory behind this technique is that most criminals do not want to be noticed.  Supposedly if a bank employee looks the criminal in the eye and says hello when they walk into the bank, the criminal no longer has that psychological edge of anonymity and confidence they need to commit the crime.

A strike plate is a part of a door lock.  It is the metal plate that is attached, usually with screws, to the door jamb (door frame) and has one or more holes that hold the lock bolt when the lock is engaged.  When the door is closed, the lock bolt extends into the hole which then keeps the door closed.  Refer to the picture for a look at a high security strike plate.

Before I start this article, I want to say this is strictly an opinion piece and may not be directly related to the emphasis of this site which is security for small and medium sized businesses.  I do think the basic premise of the article will be relevant to any business, not just a company that has ships on the high seas.

As a business owner, you must sometimes ask yourself this question when talking to an employee and maybe at times when talking with a customer.  How can you know if you should investigate further or if you should trust that gut feeling you get sometimes?  Well, Carolyn Finch recently had an article in CSO (Chief Security Officer) magazine covering body language and how to use it when looking for signs that someone is lying.

After reading a survey “Impacts of Current Economic Environment on Security” conducted in January of 2009 by ASIS International, it confirmed a statement I had made in an earlier post titled Are You Experiencing Information Overload?.  In this earlier post I noted that in economic downturns the number of thefts and fraud usually go up as the economy goes down.  The survey participants were chief security officers (CSO) or security managers from a variety of companies.  Most were also from companies with more than 2700 employees which is larger than most small or medium-sized businesses I have dealt with.  The findings of the survey showed 66 percent to 78 percent of the participants agreed that the need for security had increased over the last six months of 2008.  This is the same time the economic downturn started.